A Study of Predestination, "Eternal Security," Law, Love and Salvation - Continued...

There are many puzzling Scriptures in the Bible that are difficult to understand. One is in connection with the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. We are told in Ex. 4:21, "And the Lord said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou doest all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go." It would seem that God exercised personal supervision to harden Pharaoh's heart in some capricious manner. Yet we read in I Sam. 6:6a, "Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts?" In the first quotation it is God that hardened Pharaoh's heart, but in the passage from Samuel, he hardened his own heart. It will be seen that Pharaoh hardened his heart, and there are many references to the Israelites hardening their hearts.

William Barclay's explanation is helpful.

Hardening comes from the words poroun and porosis, meaning a stone. Aristotle likened it to a stalagmite; it dripped as water, but hardened as stone. It is compared with a fracture in which a substance like chalk forms where the bones are broken, and in the process of healing, this becomes hardened like stone…This conveys the idea of the power to harden, lack of feeling, power of blindness and lack of power to see. It describes the condition of one who becomes insensible to feeling; upon those who are unteachable, and those upon whom no impression can be made. Paul said the Jew"s minds were blinded when they heard the word of God. John 12:40 says, "He hath blinded their eyes and hardened their heart: that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them." These words describe a man who stubbornly takes his own way, who is deaf to to the appeals of God because he has been busy making God in his own image. They describe a man who thinks he knows better then God. It describes the immoralities of the Gentiles whose consciences were stifled until "past feeling." And their hearts became like porosis, stone. Conscience was petrified, so calloused that no sensitiveness was left.

This was the attitude of the Jews when Christ sought to heal a man on the Sabbath and their hearts were like porosis. (Mark 3:5) They had so long identified religion with rules and regulations they could not recognize the true operation of the law of God when they lost all human sympathy. Because they had so long taken their own way instead of God's way, they were completely insensitive to the appeal of God and the appeal of human need. Hence, they wanted, above anything else, to do away with Christ.

This then, is the operation of God hardening Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh hardening his own heart, also of the judicial blindness God imposed on the Jews. Pharaoh, and the Jews, and anyone like them, who refuse the truth and persist in their own stubborn way, automatically bring on their own blindness and hardness of heart. Just as the sun will harden clay and at the same time melt wax. In a very real sense, God hardens their hearts, because they come under the Divine law operating in the field of disobedience. They become insensitive to feeling, eyes failing to see the truth even in the Light of Christ, and ears not comprehending His call. Jesus frequently said, "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Some- times parents tell their children it is bedtime, but the children pay no attention. If they do not expect them to obey, their children will not "hear" their commands. But if the parents sternly say, "Do you hear?", normally they will respond. Some people are accustomed to being awakened with an alarm clock. But if they want an extra "forty winks", they can get so accustomed to ignoring the alarm that they will fail to hear it. The failure to hear God's voice and obey is not to be attributed to a retributive decision of God to harden an individual's heart, but it we fail to obey God, His Divine law operates in the process of hardening, thus one can say, "God hardened" Pharaoh's, or anyone's heart, for that is the operation of His Sovereign Law.

"Whenever a man sets his own ideas in the place that God should take, whenever he stubbornly goes his own way, he is on the way to a condition in which his heart is petrified, in which his heart and his conscience have become insensitive and when his eyes are blind." (Barclay)

In all these things it is necessary to discern between the operation of human and Divine laws. Basically we tend to the anthropomorphic concept of God (i.e. thinking of God as a man). It is like we read in Psa. 50:21, "These things hast thou done, and I kept silence: thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes." Because we think of God in terms of self, we have a tendency to ascribe his actions as similar to what our actions would have been. In lsa. 55:7,8, we read, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

We cannot legalistically enclose God in our theological pattern. He does not succumb to the doctrines we impose upon Him. Our theology is like the bed described in lsa. 28:20, "For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than he can wrap himself in it." Our theological bed is too cramped, and our doctrinal covering is too inadequate to meet the Divine need. David conceived of God's ways correctly when he said, "And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: Thou hast set my feet in a large room." (Psa. 31:8) God gives ample room to grow.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD'S LOVE AND GOD'S LAW...

It is no accident that the longest chapter in the Bible deals with God's Law, and it is near the center of the Bible. The actual center of the Bible is a Psalm of only two verses giving praise to God and extolling His mercy and truth. Immediately before the 119th Psalm is the 118th which should be read in its entirety. In part it reads, "I will praise thee; for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day, which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it... Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the Lord; we have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. (Psa. 118:21-24,26) God's mercy and truth, His love and redemption precede God's Law. God is good. God's mercy is redemptive. Mercy triumphed over judgment. God's love triumphed over His Law. "This is the day which the Lord hath made-we will rejoice and be glad in it."

The Bible depicts the world as a spiritual battleground between righteousness and evil. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are the champions of righteousness. The world, the flesh and the Devil are our opponents. The Bible shows God opposed to the world in every instance. "God so loved the world…" (John 3:16"…If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in Him." (1 John 2:15) "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God." (Jas.4:4) The Bible places the world, and all that it means in opposition to God.

Likewise the flesh is always in contrast to the Spirit. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other..." (Gal. 5:17) "For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit." (Rom. 8:5) "For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." (Rom. 8:13) The Spirit is the Source of power and mastery over the flesh. This victory cannot be achieved through will power or well-meaning decisions but by the help of the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus taught that the enemy on the throne of the heart is within, and must be cast out and Christ enthroned within. "Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then spoil his house." (Matt. 12:29) The strength of the flesh can only be conquered and overpowered by the Spirit.

Thirdly, the Bible always depicts Christ as opposed to the devil. The Bible only mentions three occasions where Satan is permitted to speak. He spoke to Adam in the garden of Eden and accused God of withholding something which he said man was entitled to have. "Yea hath God said..." He accused Job before God- the Accuser of the brethren. "Doth Job serve God for nought?" Then he tempted Christ and offered Him all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, if Christ would only worship him. All temptation invariably comes in this manner. First we are tempted through the flesh as Adam was. Next, the appeal is made to the eyes, the lust of the eyes. Finally, there is a surrender of the will, the pride of life. Every temptation follows this pattern. Christ met and defeated each onslaught with the Word. Christ was tempted to turn stones into bread, the lust of the flesh. He was tempted to leap from the pinnacle of the temple; to do something spectacular and tempt God to miraculously intervene--the lust of the eyes, or to surrender God's will for the world--the pride of life.

The opposition of Satan to Christ is manifested all through the gospels. In Mark 1:24, Jesus shows His mastery over Satan, and Satan's fear of Christ. "...What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know thee Who Thou art, the Holy One of God." Christ's purpose in coming into the world is nowhere more clearly set forth than in I John 3:8. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."

Thus, while man may not be able to describe his relationship with Christ or the power of Satan according to the five tangible senses, he is, nevertheless compelled to recognize the fact of God's Law. Let us take a few everyday examples of the operation of God's Sovereign Law. Suppose a person is addicted to smoking. This habit may affect people in different ways, socially, morally, religiously or in various other ways. Some may be opposed to its use on religious grounds while others may be opposed to its use socially as in buses or public elevators. But scientists have discovered that the excessive use of tobacco is a health hazard and thereby shortens the life expectancy of the user. As such, it is in violation to God's law regarding our bodies being the temple of the Holy Spirit, and we have no right to defile this temple. We can ignore the warnings and risks, but we cannot escape the consequences.

Many are affected today by the use of alcohol. Legally its use is permitted and often encouraged. We can escape any penalty imposed by the State for its misuse if we are careful to observe what is legal. But there is another Law at work. It takes note of the broken homes, deprived children often subjected to cruelty, to loss of income and employment and even health, to the crimes committed under its influence, and to the accidents on our highways. None of these things happened by design or by choice. They happened because a Sovereign Law was violated that led to all the other sequels.

Probably the most frequently violated Law of God today comes under the general label of permissiveness. Since social custom has in a great measure removed the stigma of sinfulness in regard to sexual promiscuity, many have come to accept it as a way of life. The seventh commandment is "Thou shalt not commit adultery." Basically, it means unfaithfulness to the wedding vows. An extended meaning is to adulterate, that is to lower the quality by adding inferior ingredients. The Bible has very definite teachings on the status of sexual relations. In Heb. 13:4, it says, "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." Explicit instructions are given in 1 Cor. 6:15-20 in this regard: "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."

In all these observations it is to be noted that no crime is committed. There is a difference between a crime and a sin. There is also a difference between violating a custom or provision of man and transgressing God's Sovereign Law. One can commit adultery without incurring criminal guilt, but God will judge such acts according to His Law. There is no justification based on "situation ethics" or ,'moral relativism" in the Bible. Wrong cannot be justified merely because it is done in a "loving spirit". God's measure of judgment is: "For it you live after the flesh, ye shall die: but it ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live." (Rom. 8:13) This is not screened through Election or predestination. It is not qualified by limited atonement-that Christ died for some but not for others. No mention is made of total depravity or the irresistibility of grace. Nor is there any reference to perseverance of the saints as comprehended in the doctrine of Eternal Security.

Election and predestination begins after we are saved, for after we are saved (and because of that fact), we are predestined to be conformed to the likeness of Christ. There is no way that God could condone a limited atonement without being partial to some and capricious to others in confining them to endless hell for which they had no opportunity to choose an alternative. Nor is depravity so total that it excludes the exercise of the will to yield to the wooings of the Spirit of God. If one is saved by the irresistible power of God's grace, then it can be no credit to man to be a child of God since he was powerless to resist God's call. Finally, if salvation is so guaranteed that all sins past, present and future are justified and forgiven, then God must condone sin or show partiality toward scores of Demases, and others who "failed" of the grace of God (Heb. 12:15) if their eternal destiny in heaven is assured in spite of their defection.

In all of these circumstances, God is Sovereign of His Law, but man has freedom of choice to embrace the "Whosoever will". He has Eternal Security, not because of Divine fiat but because of his choice to "Follow Christ." (John 10:27) As long as they follow Him, no man can pluck them out of His hand. God's Law works for all alike, fairly and faithfully. As we read in Acts 10:34,35: "Then Peter opened his mouth, and said, Of a truth I perceive that god is no respecter of persons; but in every nation, he that feareth Him and worketh righteousness, is accepted with Him."

Perhaps it is normal for us to think of God's Law as the expression of God's instrument of condemnation and judgment. A moment's reflection will demonstrate that this is far from the truth. The law is not God's perpetual frown designed for the purpose of punishing wrong- doing. On the contrary, "God is love; he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him." (1 John 4:16b) In Gal. 5:6 we read, "For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." In other words we are not saved by faith that embraces a certain doctrine, but by faith in a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. Farther down in the chapter Paul says, "For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Gal. 5:14) The obvious result of genuine love to God will seek the good will of one's neighbor; it will adore God and honor father and mother. Love to God will resist the temptations of the flesh, adultery, covetousness and ill will that could erupt in bodily harm. Love is the fulfilling of the law.

Why then was it necessary to invoke God's law? We are told in Gal. 3:19, "Wherefore then, serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." To be added because of transgressions means that it was added to bring conviction for sin, the sin of a broken law. But even this was an act of God's mercy and love. The law was added to prevent people from reaping further ill consequences as a result of breaking God's law. People sometimes speak of winning a divorce or a decree nisi as if they have gained a freedom. It is equivalent to winning the freedom to go into bankruptcy or the freedom to lose your home. People have freedom to drink all the alcohol they can obtain only to hear the doctor's verdict that the liver cannot be repaired, or some other organ has given out.

There is a very real sense in which this world is ruled by God's law even among people who reject all knowledge of God. In Rom. 1:17,18 we read, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, "The just shall live by faith. For THE WRATH OF GOD is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness." The balance of Rom. 1:19- 32 is a commentary on the manner in which godless man seeks to exploit his sinfulness only to be recompensed with judgment on his wrongdoings. Sin brings judgment and eventual death. Faith and righteousness accompanies its own rewards, even in the natural sense. This redemptive love of God, countered by merciful judgment, is seen throughout the entire history of God's dealings with man. The Psalmist summed it up beautifully in Psa. 85:9-11, "Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in the land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the ground; and righteousness shall look down from heaven."

When our first parents, Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, they were naked and unashamed. Their clothing consisted of an aura of light similar to the miraculous appearance of Christ in His transfiguration. This is the garment of the redeemed, and without this Divine covering, man is regarded as naked before God. Man is the only creature in the universe that requires artificial covering. After the fall of man, God provided him with a covering of skins and pronounced judgment upon him, but at the same time offering hope and promise of redemption.

Sometimes the question is asked, "Why didn't God destroy Adam and Eve and start over again with someone who would obey Him?" This would have been an admission on God's part of creative failure. By nature, God is holy and He seeks for man to be holy. In Lev. 19:2 it says, "Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." This is repeated many times as in 1 Pet. 1:16, "Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy." And in 1 Thess. 4:7, "For God hath not called us to uncleanness, but unto holiness." The root meaning of "holiness" is not religious piety, but "wholeness" or "completeness". Life is not "whole" without God.

After man fell into sin, God was faced with the problem of redemption. He could not ignore sin nor suffer it to go unpunished; still, how could God forgive sin without compromising His own holiness? This mystery has puzzled men for ages, but the remedy is stated in 1 Cor. 2:9-12, "But as it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. 'BUT God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit ... NOW we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God: that we might know the things that are freely given of God." This is a quotation from lsa. 64:4. Many people apply it to a description of heaven, but the context unerringly applies it to our forgiveness and reconciliation with God here and now. It is not a man made scheme, nor anything that could even be conceived by man. Salvation is an imported article. It originates in the heart of God and is offered as a gift of inexpressible value. It comes freely but not without inestimable cost. A Substitute has been found. Christ has taken our place, and we are complete in Him. God can forgive the guilty sinners and still retain His own holiness and justness because our sins are no longer imputed to us, but to Him. Thus our sins are blotted out for "righteousness and peace have kissed each other." (Psa. 85:10b) The war is over. Peace has been declared on God's terms. He (Christ) is our peace.

A SUMMARY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LOVE OF GOD AND THE LAW OF GOD

When we discuss the relationship between the Law of God and Love of God, we do not regard them as rivals. Both God's Law and God's Love emanate from the same source and have the same objective, namely, man's well being: and eventual redemption. The contrast, if any, is in the means of obtaining the desired goal. The universe is subject to: minutely-governed law. The orbits of the planets, the frequency of the tides, the flight of birds, the balance of species in nature and the operation of the law of gravity all testify to the presence of Law. If God operates a universe so meticulously governed law, it is only natural that He has designed His spiritual law to operate flawlessly as well. The design and purpose of redemption is to bring man back into harmony with God's spiritual law. This is seen in Titus 2:11,12, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world." Verse 14 adds, "Who gave Himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Mention has already been made of the effect of man's original sin, and the question raised; as to why God did not then destroy man. To have done so; would have required the admission of Creative failure. To offset this, God embarked on a program of redemption. In 1 Cor. 6:2,3 we read, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? ... Know ye not that we shall judge angels? How much more things that pertain to this life." The manner in which the saints shall judge the world is by their demonstration of the power of redemption and of God's ability to show through them, the reality of being saved in contrast with the destiny of those who are lost. The full impact of this choice is shown in Eph 2:6,7, "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: THAT IN THE AGES TO COME HE MIGHT SHEW THE EXCEEDING RICHES OF HIS GRACE IN HIS KINDNESS TOWARD US THROUGH CHRIST JESUS." The presence of the saved will justify God's judgment of the world and even angels throughout eternity.

We return once more to the question of predestination as recorded in Eph. 1:11, "in Whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will." Eph. 1:4-12 seems to imply that God predestines certain ones to salvation according to His will. The matter of being saved or lost would seem to depend on God's choice rather than man's free will. However, this anomaly is cleared up in Eph. 1:13, "In Whom ye also trusted AFTER that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in Whom also AFTER that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise." God provided the means of redemption from eternity, but our securing of salvation took effect after we heard the gospel and after we believed. Thus God is not partial to some and not others, but deals with all on the basis of "Whosoever will." God's love is extended to all men equally. Two Scriptures bear testimony to the correctness of this interpretation. In Rom. 11:32, it says, "For God hath concluded them ALL in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon ALL." In Gal. 3:22 Paul reiterates, "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise of faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." The promise is open to ALL, but is made available to those that believe. In any case God is vindicated of showing any preferential treatment to any seeker after His grace. His love and His grace is extended to all men equally.

Paul insists upon the righteous purpose of the Law. In Rom. 4:12 he says, "Wherefore the law is holy: and just and good." In verse 14 he adds, "For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin." It is apparent that the law lacked an important and vital necessity as Paul relates in Rom. 8:3: "For what the law could not do, in that it was WEAK through the flesh, God sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." The real inadequacy of the law is revealed inGal.3:21,"Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid: for if there had been a law which could have given LIFE, verily righteousness should have been by the law." The law served the plan of God, as a slave serves his master, to bring us to Christ. (Gal. 3:24) The law was likened to a prison where faith was the only hope of deliverance. (Gal. 3:23) The promises of God: could only be fulfilled, by imparting life to the believer, and this, the law was powerless to do. Jesus came to offer life as in John 10:10b, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Luke says, "The law and the prophets were until John (the Baptist): since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." (Luke 16:16,17) John was the last one of the prophets, and also the greatest. (Matt. 11:11) He announced the Messiah. Up until John, no one had kept all the law and, therefore all were condemned by it. That was LAW.

In order to bring out the full significance of what follows, we shall go into the details of Heb. 10:7-23. "Then said 1, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me) to do Thy will, 0 God." (v. 7) When Christ came in "the volume of the book" written of Him, He fulfilled every jot and tittle required of the law. All was fulfilled. "Above when He said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offering and offering for sin, Thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; then said He, Lo, I come to do Thy will 0 God. He taketh away the first, that He may establish the second." In order to fully grasp the contrast between the Old and the New covenant, let us refer to 2 Cor. 3:6-11. "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament (Covenant); not of the letter, but of the spirit; for the letter 'killeth', but the Spirit giveth LIFE. But if the ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away; how shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory. For even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which was done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious." Paul goes on to contrast the superiority of the New Covenant over the Old even though many Jews still clung to the Old. (verses 12-16)

It is to be noted that we are now under the New Testament, the Old Testament having been "taken away" and no longer in force. It is obsolete and replaced by the New. Continuing in verses 10-12 we read, "By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the 'body' of Jesus Christ once for all"-that is for all time. It cannot be repeated. "And every priest 'standeth' daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take away sins: but this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, 'sat down' on the right hand of God." The Hebrew priest always ministered 11 standing", signifying his work was incomplete and inadequate to forgive sins. But when Christ offered Himself to God, He "sat down" an the right hand of God. This change in position signified that His work was complete satisfaction for the broken law. Henceforth, He could 11 sanctify" those who trust in His offering, not because of what we have done, but because of what He has done on our behalf. He gave His life as a substitute for us that we may have LIFE. "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God: that ye may KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God." (1 John 5:13)

The full adequacy of God's remedy for sin is disclosed in the remaining verses, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin." The New Covenant is now in effect. It guarantees the remission of our sins through the sacrifice of Christ. We now have boldness "to come before God by a 'new and living way' consecrated for us through the veil, which is His flesh." Thus the words of Paul in Eph. 2:1 become a reality. "And you hath He quickened (made alive) who were dead in trespasses and sins." God's promise is redeemed and vouchsafed in the giving of LIFE to those who were DEAD in trespasses and sins, through the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:10) This is the LOVE of God. God's love offers and guarantees LIFE--eternal life. It is also the fulfilling of God's Law.